"Graveyard Shift" by James Reasoner; "The Long Silence After" by Ed Gorman
Browsing
in the Dawn Treader bookstore in Ann Arbor, I grabbed a book
from the shelves entitled HARD-BOILED. It was an anthology published in
1995, edited by Bill Pronzini and Jack Adrian, and published by Oxford
University Press. I took it home and was delighted to find stories by
two of our old friends, but that isn't why I'm choosing
these two stories today.
Although the stories are quite
different, they share a theme: men attempting to redress the loss of a
wife through criminal action. Though the outcomes are differ, both
stories are rich in atmosphere, tension, character and a quality I
love: uxoriousness. They rise above many short stories that depend
almost totally on plot. Within a few pages, we know these men---or think
we do. I highly recommend both stories as primers on how to write a
short story as well as stories to be enjoyed.
11 comments:
As I slowly recover temporarily hidden parts of my library, I'm likely to find my copy of this one, as well....
I don't have my list here, but I know I read this years ago.
I've been marking time with short stories lately, getting in one or more a day but nothing exciting. I've been reading James Sallis's Complete Stories, most of which are very short and some of which I've read in the past, but so far none of them has come close to the power of his novels. I'll just keep on until the Kindle copy has to be returned. I have a Pronzini western collection on hand, as well as a noir collection on hand.
Two excellent writers who could put many of their peers to shame.
Jerry's right! Reasoner and Gorman always deliver quality stories. I just found a paperback copy of Ed Gorman's MURDER ON THE AISLE--one of the few Gorman mysteries I haven't read...yet.
Jeff, I can attest that some of James Sallis's 1970s sf short stories/novelets were (and I suspect remain) powerful...you might need to look to the FictionMags Index and/or ISFDB and then go digging through your library or online magazine archives (Internet Archive, Luminist) to read them...I know Sallis himself, a decade or two back, was less impressed by "Exigency and Martin Heidegger" than I was, when reading it when it and I were new...
I ordered that Sallis collection months ago and forgot all about it. Thanks!
OK, I am going to admit (with embarrassment) that I did not know what uxorious meant... after all these years of reading it and not looking it up (I guess). But now at least I am a bit more educated.
I have HARD-BOILED but have only read one story from it ("The Scorched Face," a Continental Op story by Hammett). I will have to get back to it and read these two stories. I would describe my father as uxorious, although I did not know that there was a name for it.
The first time someone called my husband uxorious I was sure it was an insult. (And maybe it was to them).
Ha!
I first stumbled over "uxorious:" as a teen, and it was clearly defined in the context; it does say something that I've just now for the first time sought out the corresponding adjective for those seemingly fond beyond the norm of their husbands, "maritorious" (since 1607, says OXFORD). https://wordsmith.org/words/maritorious.html
There was a short independently produced film on James's story, wonder if it's still up somewhere? Probably on YouTube, but am too lazy or/and busy to check.
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